5?, 5?, 5?, 5?, (Many Generations),<:;:>, x---,. x x x

Transcription

1 Page 23 Lesson 9 GOD'S CALLED-OUT ASSEMBLY THE CHURCH Nationality Makes No Difference in Christ's Church: Understanding the Jews, the Gentiles, and the Samaritans To better understand the fact that the gospel is made known to all nations, we need to define the following three terms: 1) JEWS--The Jews are those people who are children (physical descendants) of Jacob. In Genesis 32:28 Jacob's name was changed to and this is the reason the JEWS are also called (Romans 9:4). What is another term used to describe these people (2 Corinthians 11 :22)? Read Philippians 3:4-5. Was the Apostle Paul a Jew (an Israelite)? 5?, 5?, 5?, 5?, (Many Generations),<:;:>, x---,. x x x Abraham Isaac Jacob Benjamin also called Israel Paul (2 Cor 11:22). Phil 3:5 The Lord Jesus, the SAVIOUR of the world, was born a Jew (Matthew 2:2) because His mother Mary was a descendant of David (the genealogy of Mary is found in Luke 3:23-38), and David was a descendant of 11 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In John 4:22 the Lord Jesus said, "SALVATION is of the because the SAVIOUR, the Lord Jesus, was Himself a Jew.

2 Page 24 God's Called-Out Assembly - Lesson 9 The Messianic Line,9, Mattl:2 I>,9, Matt _ l :2 /?, M_ att_l :2 x _.,,9, begat x begat x begat x Abraham (Matt 1:1) Isaac Jacob Judah (Gen 49:10) (ManY Generations) Matt 1:6 begat Jesse (Isaiah 11: 1) (Many David (Romans 1:3) Generations) Mary JESUS Matt 1:16 gave birth to... Messaiah the Matt 1:21 ( Luke 2:11 ) 2) GENTJLES--The Gentiles are those people who are not Jews. In other words, Gentiles are those people who do not trace their descent (family line) back to Jacob. In the New Testament there are two Greek words which are often translated by the term "GENTILES." These two words will now be discussed: A) The first of these is a Greek word which means "nations." When this word is translated "GENTILES" it means those people who do not belong to the nation Israel (they are not Jews), but they belong to the other nations. In Acts 9: 15 Paul was told to bear the name of Christ "before the (nations), and kings, and the (JEWS)." In Acts 13:46, Paul and Barnabas said, "It was necessary: that the word of God should first have been spoken to you (to the JEWS--see verse 45)... lo, we turn to the (those who are not Jews, the other NATIONS)." Read Acts 18:5-6 and Acts 28: These verses show us that when the JEWS (the nation Israel) rejected the Word of God, Paul sent the message of salvation to the (to the other NATIONS and to people who were not JEWS). B) The second of these is a Greek word which means "Greeks." This word was used to refer to those people who spoke the Greek language and followed Greek customs and the Greek way of life. In the days of the New Testament almost all of the Roman Empire was made up of Greek speaking people, and therefore almost all of the people in the Roman Empire (see a map of the Roman Empire) could be called "GREEKS." In the New Testament this word is often used with the word "JEWS": ln Acts 20:21 Paul "testified both to the and also to the

3 -- -- Page 25 In Romans 1: 16 we learn that the gospel is "the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the first, and also to the " In 1Corinthians1: 23 we find that the CRUCIFIED CHRIST was a stumbling block to the foolishness to the and Therefore in these verses the term "Greeks" means all the people in the Roman Empire who were not Jews, and this is the reason the word is often translated "Gentiles." In 1 Corinthians 10:32 we see that mankind (everyone in the world) is divided into three groups: GROUP 1 = (descendants of Jacob, Israelites) GROUP 2 = those who are not Jews.) (This is the word which means "Greeks"--all GROUP 3 = (made up of both JEWS and GENTILES; these are people who are saved and who are members of God's called-out assembly, the church) Before you were saved, what GROUP did you belong to? GROUP NUMBER Now that you are saved (if you really are saved) what group do you belong to? GROUP NUMBER Do you find these same three groups in 1 Corinthians 1 :23-24? In which verse do you find Group 1 and Group 2? Verse In which verse do you find Group 3? Verse (Remember, the church is God's called-out assembly!) So we have seen that the two words which are translated "Gentiles" (A. "nations" and B. "Greeks") both mean almost the same thing. They are both words which describe people who are not Jews. Who were God's chosen people (Isaiah 44: 1 and Deuteronomy 7:6-8)? Because the Gentiles were not Jews they were not God's chosen people, and therefore their spiritual condition is described in the following verses: THE SPIRITUAL CONDITION OF THE GENTILES: EPHESIANS 2: The Gentiles were without without in the world.... having no, and EPHESIANS 4: The Gentiles had their understanding have the life of (They were spiritually dead--ephesians 2: 1,5). and they did not 1THESSALONIANS4:5. The Gentiles do not God (compare John 17:3). They do not know Him in a personal way. They do not know Him as their personal Saviour. Thus we see how important it is for members of Group 2 to become members of Group 3. According to Ephesians 2: 1,5, 11 the Ephesians people were once members of Group, but at the time when Paul wrote to them they were members of Group (compare Ephesians 1 :22-23 with 5 :30,32).

4 Page 26 God's Called-Out Assembly Lesson 9 3) SAMARITANS -- These were people who were half-jew and half-gentile! How did such a "mixed" people come. about? History of the Samaritans A) During the days of the kings oflsrael, the city of Samaria was the. capitol of the Northe n Kingdom or the kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel. [Note: Jerusalem was the capitol of the Southern Kmgdom or the Kingdom of Judah]. THE" GREAT SEA (MEO tte Rf)Ni:RN SEA) kingdt>m OF 1}[\AEL (/,JORTJf) DESERT MAP OF PALESTINE B) In 722 B.C. God judged the N01ihern Kingdom oflsrael because of the people's sin and idolatry. God allowed the Assyrian army to defeat the city of SAMARIA and to carry away the people as CAPTIVES (2 Kings 17:5-6). Why did God allow this terrible judgment to fall upon them (see 2 Kings 17:7-18)? C) Not all of the people of Samaria were taken away in the captivity. The Assyrians probably carried away most of the chief men--men of wealth and importance--but some of the poor and common people were allowed to remain in the land. D) These Jews who were allowed to remain in the region of Samaria soon intermarried with Gentiles (heathen people), and this mixed race became known as the (John 4:9). NOTE: Should God's people marry the ungodly? Was Ezra pleased when he heard that the people of Israel had taken wives from the Gentile nations (Ezra 9: 1-4)? What was the great danger involved in mixed marriages (Deuteronomy 7:3-4)? In Nehemiah 13:27 the act of manying Gentile women is called "this great." What great man in the Bible fell prey to this awful sin (Nehemiah 13:26)? Today the same danger exists among those who are members of God's church. Would it be right for a believer to "yoke-up" in marriage with an unbeliever (2 Corinthians 6:14)? _

5 Page 27 Should the believer become "one flesh" with an unbeliever? (EPH. 5:31) c CH!lrmtttl The UNEQUAL YOKE yq f'f4,y 60..D FORBID (PERtSH 11-1 ntought)1! 1 Corinthians 7:39 teaches us that the believer is free to be married, but only in the L (the person must be a BELIEVER IN CHRIST). Suppose the young man in the picture were to say this: 11I'm going to marry this girl even though she is not a Christian because I really love her and I'm sure that after we are married she will receive the Lord as her Saviour and become a Christian too.11 What is the danger in this way of thinking? What will probably happen after they are married (compare Deut. 7:3-4)? In the days of Christ did the Jews have friendly relations with the Samaritans (John 4:9)? We also discover that the Samaritans had their own religious system (John 4:20), but Jesus said that they did not even what they were worshipping (John 4:22)! Do you think there are ignorant worshippers even today? Does the Lord want us to be ignorant worshippers (John 4:24)? MATCHING FOR REVIEW 1. People who are not Jews A. GENTILES 2. The Descendants of Jacob B. GREEKS 3. The Greek-speaking people of the Roman Empire C. NATIONS, GREEKS 4. Jacob's God-given name D. ISRAELITES, JEWS 5. SAVED Jews and Gentiles E. ISRAEL 6. MIXED Jews and Gentiles F. CHURCH OF GOD 7. Capitol of the Northern kingdom G. SAMARITANS 8. Capitol of the Southern kingdom H. SAMARIA 9. Two words that are often translated by the word "GENTILES" I. JERUSALEM 10. Believers joined together with unbelievers J. UNEQUAL YOKE

6 Page 28 God's Called-Out Assembly Lesson 9